Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Kicking vs. swimming

I know you’re not supposed to compare, and I know that just because I’m not exactly the same as the people around me who are pregnant (and due within a week or 2 of me) doesn’t mean my baby is broken, and it doesn’t mean that something’s wrong, but I’m still comparing and feeling behind in this whole pregnancy process.
While Nancy is being beat up by her sweet fetus, and Ashley’s husband can feel the baby all the time, and the other Ashley has the cutest pregnant tummy I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, I get excited if I feel the flutter once a week. Josh humors me when I tell him to push on the hard lump in my tummy or feel my heartbeat on my stomach instead of my chest but really I don’t know if he can feel anything. He certainly can't feel the baby move. And my tummy still just looks like my tummy and not really pregnant – but my regular pants did start to feel a little tight on this trip. If I’m being honest I’d blame that on the trips to Wendy’s more than the baby, but if I’m being my regular rational Pregnant Lady self (and I am) it’s all about Baby Thomas.
Then suddenly after a nice big slice of my mom’s homemade blueberry pie, out of nowhere this baby grew real limbs. And he figured out how to use them.

The first feelings of a “flutter” are the kind of thing I could clearly feel, but it took a minute to tell if it was an emotion or a physical feeling. Kindof like being nervous, or excited, but clearly something you could feel. This, however, was different. A punch, or kick, or head butt, or knee, or elbow straight from the inside out. It was short, and fast, and all alone. No flurry of kicking or bouncing. Not even a series of “flutters” followed, but it was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever felt.

I couldn’t take my hand off my tummy because if he did it again I wanted to try to feel it from the outside. He didn’t. And still hasn’t. It’s been almost 2 full days and I’ve felt nothing like it again. Which makes m wonder – was that wishful thinking? Did I make it up? If I did feel it and I haven’t since, is that bad? Does that mean something is wrong? I don’t feel him often, I never have....so I suppose it's normal for me, but not normal for anybody else - and that freaks me out a little.

7 comments:

  1. Don't worry, you'll feel it again, and it will always feel that awesome! Except for maybe during a contraction, but otherwise...awesome!

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  2. Don't stress! Soon enough your little guy will be kicking so hard, you'll be able to see the outline of his foot on your belly. Maybe he's just really well-behaved.

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  3. I wouldn't worry about it. I still stress out sometimes if I don't feel something for a few hours (because, as you mentioned, this baby is a little rambunctious), but then I have to remember that babies sleep quite a bit.

    I remember stressing out about Rachel not moving a lot, even though she was also a squirmy one for sure, and I was sitting in church. My friend brought in her newborn baby, who was asleep in her car seat.

    The baby slept and slept and slept, right through sacrament meeting. And Rachel didn't kick that whole time. And I was okay with that. Because I realized then that she might just be sleeping...

    Plus, I look pregnant this time, but I didn't with Rachel, not until I was almost due. Sometimes you get a tummy (like in subsequent pregnancies) and sometimes you don't. My friend Aprillee is also due about the same time you are and she doesn't look pregnant at all.

    And, as my mom mentioned on my blog, she only felt me kick twice the whole time she was pregnant with me. And I was a wonderfully well-behaved child (not like Rachel who is a hyper daredevil).

    Anyway, most things in pregnancy are normal. :)

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  4. I bet you'll feel him more often soon. I don't remember as much with Ryann, but Lucy is a boxer. In fact, last night she was really going at it with a HIIIII-YAH and I had the craziest dream that I could see her entire hand (thumbs up position of course) poking out of my belly. And then she pressed her face really hard against my tummy and I could see it. Strange pregnant dreams.

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  5. Here's my doctorly advice (From my vast reserves of experience of course): Sometimes they kick a lot, but sometimes they don't kick at all, but sometimes it is in between. It is all normal. But make sure to call if you feel anything weird.

    Then if I was a real doctor I would tell you to drink lots of fluids and get lots of rest and charge you a bunch of money.

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  6. I just thought of this, too. But my mom has a theory (you can dismiss it if you want) that the spirit can decide when to enter the body, before the baby is born.

    Wiggly babies decided they wanted the whole in-utero experience. Non-wiggly babies wondered why anyone would want to do that and opted to enter the body later.

    If that's true (and who knows, really, it's kind of space doctrine-y) maybe they can decide to go back and forth for a while.

    I found, looking at Rachel, that the veil was so thin for her. Like she was part of my world, but still a little heavenly.

    So maybe Thomas is still just chillaxin' on the other side. :)

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  7. Nancy that might be my favorite theory yet. I'm going to believe that because I think there's no harm in it and it makes me happy. :) THANK YOU!

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